Top ten: Finding lost assets may mean more than a fumble inside some fusty files

Depending on their value, lost or forgotten savings and investment accounts can be either a mild irritation or a major financial headache for people who hold them. Carole Hope, of solicitors Murray Beith Murray, shares her top tips on retrieving missing financial assets both in life and after death.

1 How are assets lost? The prime causes are ignoring communications by letter or e-mail relating to changes to accounts/investments, failure to inform relevant organisations of a change of address and poor record keeping.

2 What assets can be lost? The most common lost assets are bank accounts, shareholdings, unit trusts, life policies and occupational pension plans. The government has indicated that "lost and forgotten" financial assets in the UK could be valued at more than 15 billion.

3 Assets most likely to be lost With so many financial products available and life expectancy longer than ever before, it is understandable that an increasing number of people simply "forget" about some savings and investments.

In addition, personal investments have, in general, become more complex.

People with a transient career structure, who have been members of several different occupational or private pension schemes, may have failed to keep track of these.

In addition, the increased use of online banking facilities means there may be less physical evidence to remind or highlight the existence of an account to interested parties.

4 Retrieving lost savings In the case of a bank or building society account, as many details as possible should be provided to the institution concerned, such as account name, number, sort code and when the account was set up.

The British Bankers Association ( www.bba.org.uk) offers assistance free of charge. The website of National Savings & Investments ( www.nsandi.com) has pages devoted to lost documents and to "death claims", the latter providing information on claiming assets thought to have been held by deceased savers, including Premium Bonds. There are separate procedures for claims under 15,000 and 15,000 and above.

5 What about shares? Contact the registrars of the company concerned. Even if ownership of the company with whom the original shares were held has been "traded on", perhaps several times over, the paperwork relating to the original shareholding should have been retained by the present owners.

Regrettably, this is not always so, in which case further investigation or even legal assistance may be required.

6 Accounts of a deceased person Solicitors are often called on to "sort out" financial muddles when it becomes apparent that a recently deceased client has failed to keep a proper record of his or her savings and investments.

Depending on the weight of the task, they may need to engage the services of a company specialising in searches for lost or forgotten assets. Some of those companies will deal only with a solicitor in such cases; those who engage directly with members of the public for the same reason should, strictly speaking, communicate only with a person who has been appointed as the deceased person's executor.

7 Is there a charge? The specialist companies referred to above will charge a fee which the solicitor will pass on to the client, although how much obviously depends on the time and effort involved in each search.

Modern technology has greatly improved search techniques, reducing the time that it takes to locate lost accounts.

8 Tax implications If assets are lost, any tax due on them may not be paid in time. If this happens and the assets are eventually recovered, a tax charge may be due by the holder or, if the holder is deceased, by his or her estate.

If it results in additional inheritance tax, there may also be interest because of the late payment.

9 Don't get "lost" Keep the list of your financial assets up to date, noting down details of accounts that have been opened, closed or transferred elsewhere. Ensure that changes of address and surname are communicated to any relevant bank or other financial institution.

If making alterations to accounts online, and maintaining records on a computer, print out the details or, alternatively, store them on a disk or memory stick.

Inform your executor or someone else you trust where all print or electronic documents can be located and, if possible, have these stored alongside your will.

If you refer to specific bank accounts or investments in your will, make sure this is regularly reviewed.

10 Beating incapacity Dementia or other mental impairment will affect the ability to maintain a record of financial assets or to instruct others to manage these assets. Granting a Power of Attorney (a legal document through which a person can give powers to another individual to administer their affairs) while you are still in good health, to a friend, relative or solicitor will mean that someone has power to look after your assets if this happens.